


Juicy Fruit

by cryogirl



Series: Soft, sweet, stupid meet-cutes [7]
Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, First Love, M/M, Meet-Cute, Secret Messages
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:08:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25633324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cryogirl/pseuds/cryogirl
Summary: Every day, Rhett passes a kid in the hallway and silently hands him a piece of gum.Every day, he gets a smile in return- until the day he gets a name instead.——Originally posted on tumblr.
Relationships: Rhett McLaughlin/Link Neal
Series: Soft, sweet, stupid meet-cutes [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1758274
Comments: 18
Kudos: 32





	Juicy Fruit

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sohox](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sohox/gifts).



> Thank you so much to sohox for this lovely prompt! :)

Rhett had always chewed Juicy Fruit. It had started in elementary school, when the small yellow packs could be found in every child’s pocket, and even now that the other kids were turning towards more edgy addictions like cigarettes and caffeine, Rhett still held onto the gum with the weird exotic flavour.

The only other person in his high school who seemed to love Juicy Fruit as much as Rhett did was the boy with the dark hair from his parallel class. At the beginning of their freshman year Rhett had seen how blu eyes had watched him taking out a stick of gum, and without thinking he’d offered one to the other teen. The big white smile on his face had almost been enough to make up for the fact that this had been Rhett’s last gum.

He got to see the smile every day now, because due to some miracle in their schedules they passed each other at least once between classes. They never talked, barely even slowed down their steps; Rhett just fished the pack of gum from his back pocket and held it out to the boy who took a stick out with a grin and nodded in appreciation. Each encounter only lasted a few seconds, but they’d quickly become one of the highlights of Rhett’s time in school, something to look forward to when he dragged himself out of bed in the morning.

He didn’t mind that he had to buy twice the amount of gum now, especially since he suspected that the dark-haired boy couldn’t afford it. Sure, everyone should be able to buy a $1 pack of gum for themselves, but judging by his clothes and obviously ‘homemade’ haircut, Rhett was certain that he came from a family that had to turn every penny twice.

So Rhett kept on spending most of his pocket money for Juicy Fruit, and if he got weird looks from the owner of the corner store, he didn’t mind.

On the last Monday before the term ended and Christmas break began, Rhett saw the boy striding towards him from the other end of the hallway, and before he’d had a chance to reach into his jeans for the gum, the other one was already standing in front of him, offering a pack of cheap store brand peppermint gum to him. Rhett frowned, but he took the piece that was poking out from under the green packaging and looked down at it. He wanted to say something, but the boy was already walking towards his classroom.

Rhett didn’t care much for peppermint flavour, but it was a gift, so he removed the silver foil and popped the gum into his mouth. He was about to scrunch the paper up to throw it into the trash when he noticed something black on the shiny material. When he flattened it out, he read in neat capital letters: 

_MY NAME IS LINK._

—

The next morning Rhett grabbed the pack of Juicy Fruit from his desk that he’d prepared the night before, and stuffed it carefully into his jacket. The night before he had unwrapped a stick and written his message on the inside of the paper. (Actually he had thrown his first attempt away, and the second one, and the other ones until he’d gone through a whole pack.)

‘ _Hi, I’m Rhett_ ’, the blue ink said and, squeezed into a corner in much smaller letters, ‘ _You have a very nice smile_ ’. When he saw Link in the hallway, he offered him the gum as usually and gave him a wink before he practically ran to his next class.

In his Spanish class on Wednesday, Rhett chewed on cheap peppermint gum and grinned down at a piece of wrapping foil that said, ‘ _I LIKE YOUR BOOTS (p.s. thank you for all the chewing gum)’_. He wasn’t sure what Link liked about his generic basketball shoes, but he liked _something_ about him, and Rhett considered that as a win.

On Thursday his message to Link was just a smiley face and a ‘ _you’re welcome_ ’, and when he went to his locker after the last period he found a piece of gum shoved into the gap in the door of the locker; the silver paper was decorated with intricate lines, apparently drawn with a black sharpie, and in the middle of it was a small blue heart.

At home, Rhett stuck Link’s messages to the wall over his bed, right next to his Merle poster.

—

The next day was the last before the Christmas break, and in the hallway Rhett handed Link a tiny gift in colourful wrapping paper. Link smiled and wanted to move on to his class, but Rhett stopped him by putting a hand on his arm. He gestured for the smaller boy to open the parcel right then, suddenly realising that he’d never actually talked to Link. Link pulled the Christmas paper off, revealing the single stick of Juicy Fruit underneath. He laughed and shook his head before he removed the silver foil as well and read Rhett’s message.

_Merry Christmas, Link. Would you make me the best gift and go out with me?_

Rhett gave him the most hopeful look he could muster, and Link’s smile widened impossibly when he nodded and put the gum in his mouth.

——

Rhett groaned as he put the last of the boxes down in the living room. He’d just finished college, however his back was already giving him more grief than he liked to admit. Link walked in after him and sat down on their new couch. “Come on,” he said, patting the spot next to him. “Let’s take a break.”

Rhett sighed happily as he plopped down next to the other man and stretched his lank limbs across the soft cushions, closing his eyes. “Hey, you want one?” Link asked and nudged his shoulder. He was waving a pack of Juicy Fruit in front of his face, even after more than eight years still their favourite flavour. Rhett nodded. “Sure.”

He was exhausted and sleepy from the long moving day, so he didn’t notice the slight bulge beneath the paper at first; but when he unwrapped the gum completely a silver ring fell into his hands and he instinctively closed his fist around the cool metal. Rhett’s heart started racing and he gave Link a confused glance, but his boyfriend simply nodded at the foil that was still in Rhett’s other hand, slightly crumpled in his grip. He smoothed it out and with watering ees stared down at the familiar neat handwriting:

_WILL YOU MARRY ME?_


End file.
